In pick-up basketball, the losing team usually yells, “Run it back” — the vernacular for a rematch.
In this unique college football season, New Mexico State is seeking to “run it back” with this Saturday’s game against Hawaii at the Ching Complex.
“We want our second chance to go out and prove that we can win a game (against UH),” NMSU quarterback Jonah Johnson said.
In a scheduling rarity, NMSU and UH are playing a home-and-home series in the same regular season. The Warriors won the homecoming game in Las Cruces, N.M., in September. Now the Aggies would like to be the spoilers for the first UH home football game with spectators. The Aggies have lost all nine games in this series, including five times in Honolulu.
“This is a real challenge,” NMSU coach Doug Martin said. “There’s never been a New Mexico State football team that beat Hawaii in the history of the school. … This is something (the Aggies) can do that nobody else has done. It’s a great opportunity. We’re going to play our hardest.”
The Aggies, who compete as an independent, book-ended the coming UH game with byes. During the recent bye week, the Aggies practiced only Friday and Saturday. They came back to practice on Monday, which is usually a non-workout day. “Just to refresh (last week), get away from football a little bit, and come back into it with a fresh mind,” safety Caleb Mills said.
The Aggies arrive this afternoon from El Paso aboard a Sun Country Airlines charter flight. Martin said he followed suggestions from some Mountain West Conference coaches on the best travel plans for games in Hawaii. Arriving two days ahead of kickoff to acclimate was a popular strategy.
Martin also spoke with NFL contacts on preparing to play a team a second time during the regular season. “I think the methodology to it is the things you did well (in the first game), you carry those into the next game,” Martin said. “The things that didn’t work well or you didn’t feel good about, you get rid of them.”
Martin also said it is sound to keep the plays that were practiced but not used. “The players already know them,” Martin said. “This is an opportunity to get those going again. The fine line of changing too much and not changing at all, you’ve got to find the sweet spot for that.”
Martin said it was time consuming to meet Hawaii’s safe-travel protocols. “To to go Hawaii we had to go through all sorts of hoops in terms of filling out paperwork, and the on-line registration, and all of a sudden, we still have more work to do. … All that is difficult. It’s really strict there. It’s really different from what we’ve been doing here.”
Martin said the presumption is Hawaii quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, who was injured and missed essentially the past two games, will be available to play. “If he’s not, it’ll probably be the same freshman (Brayden Schager) and a lot of wildcat formations,” Martin said.
The Aggies also are drafting a strategy to track UH’s Calvin Turner, who is used in the backfield, as a receiver, in motion on jet sweeps, or wildcat quarterback.
“When he’s on the field, you have to know where he is because somehow or another, he’s going to get the ball in his hands,” Martin said. “And when he’s at the quarterback position, in the wildcat, you really have to have a specific plan for him. He’s a real key, not only in wildcat, but wherever he’s lined up.”
